T.I. school district could be hurt by wind

CAPE VINCENT - Thousand Islands Central School District could lose out on state school aid because of wind power projects.

Payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements are not considered part of districts’ wealth now, which is one piece of the state’s calculation on how much aid to give them.

“It’s not in the wealth ratio now,” said Joseph A. Menard, superintendent, during Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the town’s wind economics committee. “But how long is it going to stay like that?”

He talked to the state Department of Education about the prospect for the committee. A wind farm PILOT will mean the district has money other places don’t, he said.

The members referenced similar conclusions by the Orleans wind economics committee.

The committee is going to collect information on the total assessed value in the project boundaries for the two proposed wind projects. They will also break down residential and agricultural land in that area and possibly collect assessment information from properties within a certain distance of the boundaries.